Everything about South Korean Won totally explained
The
won is the currency of
South Korea. A currency called the
won circulated in all Korea between 1902 and 1910. The won was first the currency of South Korea between 1945 and 1953, with the currently circulating won introduced in 1962. The won is subdivided into 100
jeon, although denominations in jeon are no longer used. Its
ISO 4217 code is KRW. The
Latinized symbol for won,
₩, is made of a letter W with an equal sign ("="), which is abbreviated to a single dash sign ("–") in many cases. This symbol replaces the backslash character ("") on Korean
keyboards.
Etymology
"Won" is a
cognate of the
Chinese yuan and
Japanese yen. All three names derive from the
Chinese character (원), which means "round shape." The won was subdivided into 100
jeon, which means "money."
First South Korean won
History
The
won was first used as
Korea's currency between
1902 and
1910. It was replaced at par by the yen, made up of the
Japanese currency and banknotes of the
Korean yen.
In 1945, Korea was
divided, resulting in separate currencies, both called won, for the South and
North. Both the
Southern won and
Northern won replaced the yen at par. The first South Korean won was subdivided into 100
jeon. Only banknotes were issued, which initially circulated alongside banknotes of both the Japanese and Korean yen and Japanese coins.
The South Korean won was initially pegged to the
U.S. dollar at a rate of 15 won = 1 dollar. A series of devaluations followed, the later ones in part due to the
Korean war. The pegs were:
The first South Korean won was replaced by the
hwan on
February 15 1953 at a rate of 1 hwan = 100 won.
Banknotes
In 1946, the
Bank of Joseon introduced 10 and 100 won notes. These were followed in 1949 by 5 and 1000 won notes. The designs were similar to those of the
yen notes from the
Japanese occupation period. However, there were two subtle and important differences. The new notes replaced the
paulownia, the badge of the government of Japan, with the five-petalled
Rose of Sharon, South Korea's national flower. The clause referring to exchangeability with the
Japanese yen was also removed.
A new central bank, the
Bank of Korea, was established in
1950, and assumed the duties of Bank of Joseon. Notes were introduced (some dated 1949) in denominations of 5, 10 and 50 jeon, 100 and 1000 won. 500 won notes were introduced in 1952. In 1953, a series of banknotes was issued which, although it gave the denominations in
English in won, were, in fact, the first issues of the
hwan.
Second South Korean won
History
The won was reintroduced on
June 9 1962 at a rate of
1 won = 10 hwan. It became the sole legal tender on
March 22 1975 with the withdrawal of the last circulating hwan coins. Its
ISO 4217 code is KRW. At the reintroduction of the won in
1962, its value was pegged at 125 won = 1 U.S. dollar. The following pegs operated between 1962 and 1980.
On
February 27,
1980, efforts were initiated to lead to a
floating exchange rate. The won was finally allowed to float on
December 24,
1997 when an agreement was signed with the
International Monetary Fund. Shortly after, the won was devalued to almost half of its value, as part of the
East Asian financial crisis.
Coins
Until 1966, 10 and 50 hwan coins, revalued as 1 and 5 won, were the only coins in circulation. New coins, denominated in won, were introduced by the
Bank of Korea on
August 16 1966 in denominations of 1, 5 and 10 won, with the 1 won struck in
brass and the 5 and 10 won in bronze. These were the first South Korean coins to display the date in the
Common era, earlier coins having used the
Korean calendar. The 10 and 50 hwan coins were demonetized on
March 22 1975.
In
1968, as the intrinsic value of the brass 1 won coin far surpassed its face value, new aluminium 1 won coins were issued to replace them. As an attempt to further reduce currency production costs, new 5 won and 10 won coins were issued in
1970, struck in brass. Cupro-nickel 100 won coins were also introduced that year, followed by Cupro-nickel 50 won in
1972.
|-
!colspan="2"| Image !!rowspan="2"| Value !!colspan="3"| Technical parameters !!colspan="3"| Description !!colspan="2"| Date of !!rowspan="2"| BOK Series Designation
|-
! Obverse !! Reverse !! Diameter !! Mass !! Composition !! Edge !! Obverse !! Reverse !! first minting !! issue
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
| ₩1
| 17.2 mm
| 0.729 g
| 100%
aluminium
| Plain
|
Rose of Sharon, value (hangul)
| Value (digit), bank title, year of minting
|
1983
|
January 15 1983
| Series III (다)
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
| ₩5
| 20.4 mm
| 2.95 g
|rowspan="2"|
High brass65%
copper35%
zinc
|rowspan="2"| Plain
|
Geobukseon, value (hangul)
|rowspan="2"| Value (digit), bank title, year of minting
|rowspan="2"|
1983
|rowspan="2"|
January 15 1983
|rowspan="2"| Series III (다)
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
| ₩10
| 22.86 mm
| 4.06 g
|
Dabotap Pagoda, value (hangul)
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
| ₩10
| 18 mm
| 1.22 g
|
Copper plated aluminium
48%
copper52%
aluminium
| Plain
|
Dabotap pagoda, value (hangul)
| Value (digit), bank title, year of minting
|
2006
|
December 18 2006
|
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
| ₩50
| 21.6 mm
| 4.16 g
| 70%
copper18%
zinc12%
nickel
|rowspan="3"| Milled
| Stalk of
rice, value (hangul)
|rowspan="3"| Value (digit), bank title, year of minting
|rowspan="2"|
1983
|rowspan="2"|
January 15 1983
|rowspan="2"| Series II (나)
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
| ₩100
| 24 mm
| 5.42 g
|rowspan="2"|
Cupronickel75%
copper25%
nickel
|
Yi Sun-sin, value (hangul)
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
| ₩500
| 26.5 mm
| 7.7 g
|
Crane, value (hangul)
|
1982
|
June 12 1982
| Series I (가)
|-
|colspan="12"|
|}
The Bank of Korea announced in early 2006 its intention to redesign the 10 won coin by the end of that year. With the increasing manufacturing price, then at 38 won per 10 won coin, and rumors that some people had been melting the coins to make jewelry, the redesign was needed to make the coin more cost effective to produce. The new coin is made of copper-coated aluminum with a reduced diameter of 18 mm, and a weight of 1.22 g. Its visual design is the same as the old coin. The new coin was issued on December 18, 2006.
The 1 and 5 won coins are difficult to find in circulation today and prices of consumer goods are rounded to the nearest 10 won.
In 1998, the production costs per coin were are as follows: 10 won coins each cost 35 won to produce, 100 won coins cost 58 won, and 500 won coins cost 77 won.
Banknotes
The
Bank of Korea designates banknote and coin series in an interesting way. Instead of putting those of similar design and issue dates in the same series, they assign series number X to the Xth design of for each individual value. The series numbers are expressed with
Korean letters used in alphabetical order, for example 가, 나, 다, 라, 마, 바, 사... Therefore, ₩1000 issued in
1983 is series II (나) because it's the second design of all ₩1000 designs since the won introduction in
1962.
In 1962, 10 and 50 jeon, 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 won notes were introduced by the
Bank of Korea. The first issue of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 won notes were printed in the
U.K. by
Thomas De La Rue Company. The jeon notes together with a second issue of 10 and 100 won notes were printed domestically by the
Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation.
In
1965, 100 won notes (Series III) were printed using
intaglio printing techniques, for the first time on domestically printed notes, to reduce counterfeiting. Replacements for the British 500 won notes followed in
1966 also using
intaglio printing, and for the 50 won notes in
1969 using
litho-printing. Newly designed 500 won notes were also released in
1973 and the need for a medium denomination resulted in the introduction of 1000 won notes in
1975.
Further Information
Get more info on 'South Korean Won'.
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